The Solstice of Sinnoh
by Blaze ocean dragon
Summary: A five-pointed star is said to be the only shape with no blind points. As the threat looms on Sinnoh, perhaps the only way to see the entire situation is from five sides, five perspectives.
1. Prologue

"The Gods are waking."

The words were crisp, and parted the air like a knife. It felt like something divine had uttered them, something inhuman, something distinctly above the rest of them. The trees shuddered with anticipation, shedding their leaves to allow them to waft freely, dancing on the winds and landing with delicate finesse upon the mirrored surface of the sheet of pure water before them. It sparkled in the light like the moat of Heaven itself.

There was a pause, a moment's hesitation. The silence was pregnant with the anticipation of more utterances from the idol that had previously spoken; a response had to be similarly calculated, perfected and refined before it could be considered. One must not seem a fool in the presence of this being; naivety was unacceptable. He had long been taught that it was of utmost importance to seem intelligent at all times and knowledgeable about everything, even about things you did not comprehend.

"Why do they wake?"

came the response at last. It resounded, but did not cut; was heard, but in comparison to the words of the former, was a pale shadow. A reflection, a sad imitation that only hoped to gain the respect and power alighted by the former.

There was yet another pregnant pause as the air was held in rapt anticipation of this ascended being's response once more, words that could shatter stone, words that could part water. This being was not a god, but was their equal, and nature understood that, though others may not.

"The Dream of Gods has long ended. What remains is the dregs of existence, the refuse, the Nightmare. The Gods cannot hope to once again return it to its former purity."

There was a hesitation as this god-like being licked their lips, taking a momentary pause to reflect in the serenity of the grove, the lake, the perfect peace extended throughout the glade.

He spoke again.

"And so the Gods wake… to protect what is their own. They shan't give it up, not of their own free will."

The Other nodded to himself, noticing that He had finished speaking. His words resounded along the shoreline, like chimes from a crystal bell. They resounded in your mind, and in your soul. Even a normally inconsequential word said from that mouth would seem more meaningful than all the literature in the entire world combined. He paused, though not in anticipation, as this celestial being seemed intent on gazing into the mirrorlike waters before him, searching it as if it contained a hidden text with all the answers He desired.

Perhaps it did, and mortals like the Other were unable to unable to read it.

The Other turned to leave, as He seemed intent on spending his time watching the calm waters with a knowing eye. The Other knew He would be there for a while. Despite his divinity, or perhaps due to it, He did things that were incomprehensible, but no less meaningful to those such as him.

"One moment."

He said. The Other blinked in surprise, and paused, as he turned to look back at Him. There was a moment before He tore his gaze from the water, and looked directly into the windows of The Other's soul. A smirk crossed his visage, his eyes grey, colorless pools whose' depths contained more meaning, joy, and danger than any other.

"In these cold days, do remember to take a coat, Saturn." He said with a slightly tilted, cunning grin, bare of any true semblance of humanity or sentimentality.

Saturn nodded, and turned once more to leave. He suppressed a shiver that he knew wasn't due to the chill of the air.

He had always known.

He so divine, so flawless, whom the very aspects of nature bent to…

To stare into those grey pools was to stare into the eyes of Satan himself.


	2. My Outset

The starly were chirping. The sun was shining. The vague scent of pine wafted throughout the small community, bringing with it the scents of the coming spring, to the relief of the winter-weary villagers. Sinnoh usually had a chill climate, with truly warm spring and autumn only coming to those lucky enough to live on the far-Eastern side of the country. Due to some quirk of geography, the shadow of the Stark Mountain Range trapped the cold winds and storms on the westerly side, and the warm weather fronts that drifted from Hoenn over the Hoesin Sea on the easterly portion.

Even with that in mind, it had been an exceedingly cold year. To the residents of Twinleaf town, the proximity of the Great Lake Verity had become less of a blessing when it began to feed the winter storms that were becoming oh-so common. Some of the more religious had taken to offering regular tributes of rare berries (mainly those said to have mythical properties) to the spirit of the lake, Mesprit. On flows of Redwood, of course; According to superstition, to the Lake Spirits each had a preferred tree. Mesprit had the Redwoods that grew in plenty around the Twinleaf area, Azelf had the Birch that grew in plenty around Lake Valor, and Uxie preferred the sacred Yew that had been known to spring up sporadically among the Snowpoint's usually-Pine-dominated tree ecosystem.

Of course, I believed none of that. I had visited Lake Verity twice every week since I was eight, and had caught neither hide nor hair of any spirit flitting about it.

At the time I was having those ponderings, I had been gearing up to leave, equipped with my usual affects; My garb, of course, was a pair of neat, cotton pants colored a nice indigo color, specially made to resist tearing, fire, help prevent electrocution, and dry easy; Everything that would be required on a long voyage outward, especially accompanied by Pokemon.

I had my matching coat, which was made of a different substance, mainly leather. It was dragonhide, apparently; Very rare and incredibly expensive, considering it was neither legal, nor particularly wise to kill a dragon for its skin; One had to wait until one died naturally, and wasn't already buried or pyred by their kin. Still, the material was unmatched; While it was the scales of a dragon that contained most of their resilience, the skin was nothing to scoff at either. Theoretically, the leather jacket would be enough to stop a direct hit with a bullet, couldn't be cut by anything less than a diamond edge, and was resistant to any kind of punishment the mortal mind could think about. Fire, electricity, rocks, even ice was heavily hindered by it; dragons themselves had a dire weakness to the cold, but their skin was quite insulated. It needed to be, otherwise a Salamence would drop out of the sky when it reached a sufficiently high altitude.

Aside from the material, the jacket was quite unremarkable. It was a dark blue, only a shade lighter than my pants, and had a zipper that appeared to be made out of gold- (3.4 Caret, to be exact. It wouldn't due to have such an expensive jacket foiled by the zipper breaking, so a splice of Titanium, Gold and Tin was used to make it the most effective without becoming too noticeable on the jacket. Fine workmanship too, it would have cost a pretty penny on its own, though the cost had been waived through haggling for the jacket. There weren't that many buyers for Dragon Leather, funnily enough.)

Within the hidden pocket on the inside of this jacket, however, was my prized possession- A pocket watch, nothing particularly fancy. The finish was copper, and it needed to be wound regularly, but it was dear to me. I had no idea why; I had simply bought it at a trinket shop years ago when I figured I didn't like having a watch. On any case, I kept it on a sturdy, fairly pricy chain to make sure I never dropped it.

My other prized possession was perched on my head; A fedora hat, also dark blue, as to not ruin the color scheme. It also wasn't particularly fancy, though it was made of a material similar to my pants. It wouldn't due to have it ripped; I had also taken the precaution of having it weighed with a metal band inserted in the rim, which made it heavier and less comfortable, but worked well enough in preventing it from being blown off my head by a stiff wind.

The rest of my clothing was the usual, generic black cotton; a short sleeve blank shirt, and all that sort of thing. Around my neck was necklace made of rough brown leather, two feathers tied at the end; One was a honchkrow feather, the other a one of an altaira's down feathers. I'd long taken to twining my trophies on necklaces, and those were my souvenirs from seeing the two odd bird species around the town. They weren't particularly special, but I liked them anyway, and in the back I kept slung over my shoulder, had a long spool of similar brown leather to string any future trophies I may get.

And so there I was, standing outside of my door, blue pants, dragonleather jacket, black cotton shirt and blue fedora, with two feathers on a necklace and a large travel pack slung across my shoulder. My red eyes surveyed the idyllic town, as I brushed a lock of long raven hair from my face.

My name is Yoh Fey. Or at least as far as anyone knows, of course. To everyone, I had always been that eccentric kid with odd black, almost bluish hair, red-iris contacts and a strange obsession with dark blue clothing and necklaces.

There were a couple who knew my real name was Yusei Fey, I had a head of rather bright natural blond hair, (which I had to re-dye often, otherwise the golden roots would peek through. My hat helped, but I really hated when that happened), and Robin's egg-blue eyes, but I could count them on one hand. Every bit of identification I had, save my birth certificate and certain things I needed said birth certificate for, identified me simply as Yoh.

And I was leaving on a Pokemon journey.

Or that's what the story was, really. In reality, I had absolutely no interest in Pokemon battling, and would have scoffed and laughed had you suggested I take on gyms. No, I was leaving for two reasons-

One, I liked to travel, and didn't do it nearly as much as I wanted. This was a great chance for me to see the world (Or Sinnoh, at least) on my own turns.

And two, I had to babysit Aster Wright, Pokemon Battling enthusiast and my best friend since grade 5. Of course, he had moved to Sandgem City a little over a year ago, but I didn't mind the walk.

Aster was to receive his Pokemon today, and leave on his own journey. He'd been waiting a long time for it, and I was happy for him, despite my own obvious disinterest. That never deterred him from his rather lengthy filibusters on what he would do as soon as he had his Pokemon. He had an entire path tracked out, based on how to get his gym badges the quickest possible; It was only of the few times I'd seen him plan ANYTHING. Aster was spontaneous, and that's why I was sure to leave early in the morning for Sandgem. The walk would only take me forty minutes, perhaps an hour tops, but I couldn't count that he'd wait till five PM to go to the professor.

So, in order to make sure I didn't miss him, I left at the crack of dawn. I left a note the table for my Mother to read, basically reiterating what I had talked to her about weeks in advance anyway. There wasn't any need for goodbyes, we'd done that the previous night, plus I had always been an independent child. Others might say I was downright emotionless.

That was completely untrue, of course. I had a plethora of emotions I simply preferred not to make public. It had occurred to me that other humans, more often than not, would make situations worse rather than better if you showed your true colors. So I hid behind a wall of apathy, a false name, false hair and false eyes. Life was simpler that way, behind a comfortable mask. It allowed you to take things as they came and enjoy them at face value. Once you've wrapped yourself in deception, there's no need to seek for it in others.

Twinleaf was tiny, and though the community was closeknit, I wasn't really a part of it. I stopped by the local general store, which had just opened for business, and bought a couple dried-meat and vegetable rations. After leaving Sandgem, the next city Aster intended to stop at was Jubilife, which was a full two days walk away, provided we stopped when it got dark and left immediately after Aster received his Pokemon.

Despite worrying about Aster's impulsivity, I didn't walk particularly quickly, taking my time to savor the nature around me. The foliage of the trees was really quite beautiful in the area, and compared to other large forests in Sinnoh, relatively safe. The most you could really worry about was a nasty bite from a bidoof. Some people were afraid to go anywhere uncivilized without a Pokemon; I knew better. The wild Pokemon generally never bother a human that isn't specifically making an ass of himself to lure wilds out.

Besides, I had a Pokemon already.

I tapped the pokeball by my side. Technically, I'd be receiving my "First" with Aster, from the predestinated three starters; the three were chosen explicitly as they offered variety, were rarer than the common fair any growing trainer was likely to find on their own anyway, and of course, were easy to train.

I'd heard that in Hoenn, Jhoto and Kanto (the other three countries that held Pokemon Trainer programs), trainers had an option on what to select. In Sinnoh, it was less so. While that was true in some cases, usually the Professor would assign one of the three that best matched what the aspiring trainer needed to learn.

Each of the three starters was picked for a different reason; chimchar were energetic and strong, but they were social creatures. They rarely fought on their own, and everyone know that a chimchar worked best when it had a commander backing it up, making impulse decisions so it could keep it's mind focused at all times on the enemy. As such, they were generally given to passive trainers, who needed to learn about a Trainer's duty to their Pokemon during battle.

On the opposite hand, piplup were well known for their sense of pride and duty. A piplup hates being talked back to, and prefers to act on their own rather than for a separate 'commander'. They worked best when they were allowed to make their own decisions, rather than misinterpret someone else's orders. As such, they were given to trainers who needed to learn that their Pokemon aren't mindless, and can think up their own strategies in a pinch.

Turtwig were for those who had neither problem, and provided a nice medium between the two.

In any case, I already had my technical first Pokemon. A chinchou named Kard. He'd been my 'pet' of sorts for the past ten years; I'd received him when I was seven. He was helpful, compassionate and seemed to be loyal to me, though he understandably wasn't well trained in battle. I had no interest in such a thing.

After I had been walking for about twenty minutes, I paused at a small dirt path, and after a small moment, I turned down it towards the lakeside. Lake Verity was a favorite spot of mine to just relax and meditate; the serene waters were always calm and clear, and few people often made their ways out there. The forest was thick enough that no road could be cut through them, and so the only way to get there was by foot. Most people from Twinleaf preferred not to take the walk unless they were going swimming- (unlikely in a lake that had a small Gyarados population in its depths. They were passive, but still there), and those from Sandgem didn't even have that excuse, having a much safer body of water close by, and with a proper beach in it too.

It took me only a couple minutes from the path to come to the shore, with the calm waters before me. Today hadn't been very windy, so the waters were almost unnaturally calm. If you looked closely, you could spy some remaining caps of ice just under the water, but aside from them, the lake may as well have been glass. There was a brief shadow in the distance of a Gyarados approaching the surface, but it disappeared a moment later. I squinted slightly, trying to see the shore on the other side of the lake; Verity was one of the Great Lakes of Sinnoh, and as such was incredibly wide. There had been some people who tried to capitalize on the massive amount of Freshwater, but mysteriously, they had all disappeared into the forests or lakes when they got far enough in their plans to harm the ecosystem.

I had to admit, while I didn't believe in 'guardian spirits', that was rather suspicious.

I paused for a second as I saw a man, standing on a hill a short ways away. He wasn't particularly old, in his late 30s at the most, but it could be hard to tell as his face was gaunt and his eyes sullen. His hair was almost grey, with only a slight tinge of teal giving it any color at all. He stood up very straight, showing off his impressive height; he was at least six foot four, maybe taller. His clothing was simple, but it was probably intended to be that way; He wore a black long sleeve, with a plain dark grey vest over that, and plain black slacks. He had a belt, but unlike many people, it was bare of pokeballs or the clips for pokeballs to be put on.

I silently walked next to him, and appeared to ignore him. He did likewise, continuing to watch the waters in perfect silence, as the hidden ice caps bobbed and rippled in the water. Small water Pokemon floated to the surface occasionally, and a large gyarados shadow swam beneath us at some point.

After about ten minutes, he finally spoke.

"So. You're leaving, then." He said simply, not looking at me. I nodded and responded in kind.

"Oh? I thought you didn't care. Funny you'd remember that." I said in the same tone of voice, also not looking at him. This was a game with constantly played; Feigning disinterest in eachother, all the while prodding at eachother with cunning questions and witty retorts.

His name was Cyrus. I'd met him several years ago; completely by coincidence, apparently, we both seemed to enjoy this spot by Lake Verity, just meditating and watching the world go by. For the first year that I had observed him, we hadn't even talked. I wasn't the social type, and nor was Cyrus. After a while, however, completely by accident, we seemed to become friends of a sort.

Of course, neither of us would admit that. We both intended to hold up the flimsy charade that neither of us cared for the other, partially because we were both stubborn about hiding our emotions about others, and partially because our relationship had always been like that. I was sure that if we ever dropped it, we'd both be perpetually tongue-tied.

Cyrus didn't respond immediately. He never did, as that might imply that he was interested in the conversation. By waiting between responses, one could shorten the length of a conversation. It was a tactic even I used when in company I wasn't comfortable with.

"I believe you once said you hated Pokemon." He said in his quiet, almost disinterested voice. Cyrus wasn't cocky in the least, that was simply how he talked; Like everything was less important than him. Knowing him, it was less due to that, and more due to how he was uninterested in conversation.

I hesitated a second myself, as to not seem to eager to answer, and responded in like.

"No, Pokemon I like. It's battling I dislike."

Cyrus seemed to nod. "Violence is hardly a worthy pursuit. I'm not particularly fond of Pokemon otherwise, however." He said levelly. I nodded, and continued to watch. I didn't expect Cyrus to say anything else; a short exchange like that was all he spared for me. I liked to think it was more than he spared most people.

I was rather surprised when he held out his thin arm towards me, in his hand holding some orange, squat, cylinder-type device. I blinked, and broke form for a second, glancing at him for a split second. I rectified that when I noticed he wasn't looking at him. I took the cylinder in my own hands, directing my attention at it. I rolled it in my hands; It was a little wider than a fist, and about as wide as half my forearm.

"What's this?" I tried to say in a bored drawl.

I could have sworn I saw a hint of a snicker on Cyrus' face for a half second, but it disappeared as quickly as it came. Cyrus wasn't one for emotion, even humor.

"A gift." He said plainly, in a tone that suggested he wasn't going to elaborate without further prodding. I didn't give him the satisfaction of the question, and instead rolled the object. I blinked when I discovered a clasp, and the cylinder split open to reveal a library of disk-like objects held in plastic sleeves. I took a look at them, and blinked again when I saw the letters printed on them.

"Technical Machines?" I said with some confusion. I let a ghost of a smirk pass my lips. "I thought you said you weren't fond of Pokemon or Battling." I said casually.

Cyrus paused again. "Indeed I am not. Which is why I am gifting them to you. I'm afraid I couldn't throw out something so expensive, and it was impossible to sell."

I nodded, and tucked the TMs and the case into my pocket. "Indeed, I see why. They're very low quality." I said nonchalantly. That, of course, was a lie; As TMs went, they were very good, and probably cost him a pretty penny. I hardly thought that he would admit he bought them for me, of course.

Cyrus nodded. "Nothing more than dusty relics I found lying about. I'm really glad to be rid of them." He said without interest, still staring out into the lake. I nodded, then paused again to look out at the waters myself. After a further few minutes of watching, I turned to leave; I needed to catch Aster early, of course.

"Fey." I heard Cyrus say. I blinked in confusion again; Cyrus never stopped me from leaving.

"Our world is in flux, Fey." He said simply. Though he still didn't look at me, I could tell the gravity in his voice. "Space, constantly expanding around us, and Time, flowing with stringent restraint. Remember that change is a part of our universe. And change may come earlier than you think. Just remember that."

I blinked in confusion, and nodded. Apparently satisfied, he returned to watching the waters with his keen, grayish eyes. I blinked, and knowing that I wouldn't get any words from him anymore, decided to go on my way.

I mulled over Cyrus' words as I returned to the path, walking casually but briskly. I noticed the sun was starting to hike into the sky; It was getting nearer to lunch time.

I paused. I hadn't had anything to eat yet.

I shrugged and increased my pace. There'd be something to eat in Sandgem.

Even so, my pace wasn't anything spectacular. I've never been a very quick walker, prone to looking around too much. I'd stop and smell the roses, so to speak, examining the trees and natural wildlife. There usually wasn't much around, but you'd occasionally spot something odd among the bidoof and starly. While it was fun to look for them, they were pretty well camouflaged, and you needed to examine the foliage for evidence of their existence closely. This was difficult to do while still keeping up a bit of a pace.

Occasionally, I even bump into other people walking.

This is exactly what happened this time.

I was knocked back by a sudden collision to my forehead, as I hit the ground. The other guy recoiled but didn't fall, nursing his jaw for a couple minutes. I winced on the ground for a few seconds before looking up; the guy I had hit had a large head of spiky red hair. He rubbed part of his mouth, muttering. He blinked at me for a couple seconds. "Sorry about that." He said sheepishly, offering me a hand. I blinked, nodded, and took the boost to get back on my feet. He chuckled good naturedly, and patted me on the back.

"There we are. Sorry about that." He said amiably. I blinked.

"No need to apologize." I retorted. "I knocked into you."

The stranger chuckled, and waved a finger. "However, I should have known better. So, what's your name?" He said casually, walking towards Sandgem. As that was the direction I was going, I followed along. I blinked. "Yoh. Yoh Fey." I said after a moment. I didn't really like talking to people, though this guy didn't seem to bad.

The red-haired man nodded. "Right. My name is…" He paused for a second, as I wondered why he had to about his name. "Well… Call me…W-wata."

I blinked, trying not to let my confusion peek through. "Wata?"

"Uhm…Wata…ru… Wataru. There we are." He said with a smirk. "Wataru… I like that name. It's a nice name. Don't you think?"

I was curious, but pretended to ignore his obvious attempts to create an alias. I blinked when I noticed his clothing; at first it seemed normal, a brown vest on a light blue shirt and beige pants. However, I then noticed his long, flowing brown cloak and the expensive-looking mountain boots he wore. I wondered for a second what his job could possibly be. The only one I could see dressed like that was…

"Are you a Pokemon trainer?" I asked curiously. Wataru grinned ruefully at me.

"Of a sort." He said after a moments pause. "Are you?" He threw back.

I paused. "Technically." I said after a moment. "I'm going to get my first Pokemon today." I said. That was technically true.

Wataru seemed to brighten. "Really? A rookie? Say… I have an offer for you."

He said, rubbing his palms together. I cocked an eyebrow.

"I've been looking for someone to take care of this Pokemon, you see… I was going to train it myself, but… something came up. You seem like a decent guy."

I blinked. "I guess. But, just so you know, I don't really want to do much battling…" I muttered. It seemed odd to tell someone other than Aster or Cyrus that I had no intention of really 'training' anything.

Wataru seemed to pause. "Oh. Well, this one seems a little spunky, so maybe it wouldn't be the best choice to give it to you…" He sighed for a moment. "Damn. I really need to get this off my hand… I shouldn't have caught her in the first place, but I couldn't let a rare Pokemon like that wander around where anyone could take her. It can be dangerous out, these days. Hm. You know anyone else?" He said hopefully.

I paused. "Well… my friend is kinda into the battling thing. Maybe he would like it."

It felt odd. Nobody gave away apparently "rare" Pokemon like that. Especially people who tried to hide their name.

I narrowed my eyes at him. This was suspicious.

"Tell you what. For your trouble, take this." He said with a smile, before reaching into his coat. After a second, he pulled out a solid red pokeball. I raised my eyebrow at the color, and raised the other when he handed it to me.

I eyed him suspiciously. "Really. And what's different between this one and the other one?" I asked.

Wataru apparently didn't get my glare. "Oh, this one doesn't really need to battle. She's really quite docile. A little young, but docile."

I blinked, but shrugged again, before pressing the button and tossing the pokeball. There was a bright shine as the ball opened, tinged with red I noticed (possibly the odd coloration of the ball had something to do with that). I eyed a small pile of grey flesh that seemed to appear on the ground when the light had subsided.

I gave Wataru an odd look, who beamed, before I approached the grey mass. I knelt down and looked at it, and paused in confusion as I heard… snoring?

I hesitantly poked it, and the flesh seemed to shudder in response. There were contortions as it seemed to stretch out. I saw a long rectangular piece of grey reach upward and yawn, revealing many small, but lethal-looking fangs. Two large parts flared up, revealing to be thin membranes, as the creature untangled itself and sat perched on the ground like some sort of brutal, gray bird. It made a slight caw sound of confusion.

Wataru walked over to the birdlike creature and patted its head. It squawked in approval and made a sound that seemed almost like a purr. "Now, now, Dessy. He's going to take care of you now." He said with a smile, pointing at me. "What do you think?"

The creature, 'Dessy' apparently, hopped up to me and sniffed me. After a couple seconds of uncomfortable probing, the bird creature apparently squawked its approval. I winced a little; reared up its full height, the thing only came up to my waist, but those teeth looked dangerous.

Wataru smiled, and taking the ball, looked warmly on the little creature, touching her on the muzzle for a moment. "Be good, Dessy." He said, before touching her with the strange red ball. After she had been re-assimilated, he handed the container back to me. "Her name's Desiree. She'll answer to Dessy too, but she gets grumpy if you call her anything else."

I blinked. "What… Is she?" I asked in confusion. Wataru gave me a wry smile again, showing off the features of his face. I wouldn't really know, but I'd assume he'd be considered handsome by a lot of people. Not to mention his charisma was infective. As much as I wanted to distrust him, it was difficult.

"She's an Aerodactyl, of course." He said like it should be obvious. "Third Generation too, so you don't need to worry about her acting to primal on you. She's as civilized as any other Pokemon you have."

I blinked. "Right."

"Just remember to feed her every day. Make sure she gets meat at least once a week, otherwise she gets cranky. It should be raw at least twice a month, otherwise her fangs and claws dull and get brittle."

I blinked again and nodded despite myself.

"Aside from that, just treat her like any other Pokemon. She's very affectionate. And smart too, don't make that mistake."

I nodded, and glanced upwards as I saw Sandgem coming up.

"So… this friend of yours. He's in Sandgem, right?" Wataru asked curiously, putting his arms behind his head. I nodded in response.

"Great. He's a good guy, right? He treats his Pokemon well?"

"Well…" I started. "He doesn't have any yet. He's getting his first one today. But yeah, he's a good guy. If a little impatient."

Wataru chuckled. "Sounds perfect" he murmured.

We walked into the city in relative silence. Sandgem was bigger than Twinleaf, though not by much. It, at least, had some PokeMarts and other such stores and conveniences, plus actual hotels. The best Twinleaf had were a couple alleged "Bed and Breakfasts" he hadn't seen anyone but the occasional wanderer use. True to its name, most of the city was on sandy ground. Sparkling cliffs rose around us; Sandgem was known for the number of semiprecious stones in its rocks. Not valuable enough to mine, but they looked pretty in the morning. Even so, people mingled in and out, getting to their business without a second look, evidently used to such a view. There were some cars here and there, and some streets; that was another thing you never saw in Twinleaf.

Automobiles had been a growing fad as of late; most people in large cities had them, but they were generally inefficient due to the lack of roads between cities and towns. Projects for "Highways", long channels of road that connected cities had been talked about, but never implemented due to complications involving Pokemon living in the region. Pokemon populations as of late had been stressed due to cities eating up large areas of lands, causing predators to scare others out of their land. These days, trying to cut MORE out of their territory was likely to end in disaster for the cutters, builders, and anyone who used that road.

Wataru nudged my shoulder. I answered with slight annoyance. "What?" I muttered.

"Your friend." Wataru said. "Does he have poofy blond hair? Kinda scrawny, wears a striped shirt?"

I paused and nodded. "Seems accurate. How do you know?"

"Because I think he's making an ass out of himself."

I blinked, and looked where he pointed to see indeed, Aster waving his hands at me while standing on the guard rail, to the shock of the people. He was on the third floor of some building, probably the Pokemon Lab, calling out to me, before rushing out the door, presumably to come down the stairs.

I sighed. "I suppose we should follow him…" I muttered, walking into the lab. Wataru followed me, though he seemed a little apprehensive. I noticed, and that convinced me to hurry up a little. If Wataru was somehow taken off guard by the lab, maybe it would help me figure out what was so odd about him.

"Yoh! Yoh, Yoh!" I heard someone yell as the blond teen bounded down the stairs. Scientists got out of the way.

I glanced around. The lab, the first floor at least, seemed normal. There was a receptions counter, several cubicles, and florescent lighting on the white and plain walls. There was carpeting, around the reception counter being red, but being gray elsewhere.

I sighed and turned to Aster. "Hello, Aster-"

I was cut off as Aster gave me a friendly swat on the back. "Aster! Let's battle!" He showed me a pokeball and grinned triumphantly.

I blinked, flustered. "But I didn't-"

"Aww, why don't you go for it?" Wataru said with a wink. "You might have fun."

I sighed, and gave it. I paused on the Aerodactyl's pokeball, knowing that was what he thought I would used. Well, I wouldn't give him that benefit. I put my hand on Kard's pokeball. "Alright then. Let's take this outside…" I muttered under my breath. I didn't like battling, but Aster never took no for an answer.

There was a loud harrumph as another man came down the stairs. He was old, probably in his 70s, but seemed healthy. He had an impressive beard and moustache, but a stern face. He wore a labcoat, so I assumed he was a scientist here, probably a pretty senior one. I had the oddest feeling I'd seen him before.

"Indeed. Please take it outside." He said in a regal sounding voice. I nodded my head at Aster, who deflated a little but sprinted outside.

I followed him at my own leisurely pace, not sparing any words for an answer, and pushed open the glass double doors. I was greeted with a loud squeaking sound, and blinked when I saw a piplup there, beaming up at me. It hopped a little, looking eager to get started.

Aster chuckled. "Meet Mobius!" He said enthusiastically. "Strong looking, isn't he?" He said, beaming. The piplup faltered, and seemed to look questioningly at Aster, but looked back at me a moment later. I was tempted to tell Aster why 'He' seemed confused by the name, but thought better of it. Better for him to find out on his own; at the moment, he seemed to think his piplup had low self esteem and tried to cheer him up.

I sighed, plucked the pokeball from my belt, and tossed it in to the fray. I noticed that the old scientist had come out, and was speaking in a quiet voice to Wataru, who was sitting on a bench. I couldn't tell what either was saying, so I ignored it.

My pokeball erupted into an explosion of light, dulling to form the shape of the small angler-fish Pokemon. Two beacons of light dangled from it's antenna as it squeaked happily. Kard looked at me for a second, wondering if he really was battling. I nodded, and he squeaked enthusiastically. I noticed Wataru gave me an incredulous look, but I kept focus, not wanting to be distracted.

"Mobius! Use Peck!" He ordered. The piplup nodded its affirmation. I didn't need to tell Kard what to do, as he avoided the attack, touching one of his nodes to the penguin-Pokemon, shocking 'him'. The bird squawked, and then dashed to the side for a second, intent on a counter-attack.

"Mobius! Use Growl!"

Mobius ignored the order, and instead thrusted forward, giving his Peck an edge. Kard yelped as the hard beak collided with his soft body, and swatted with an antennae. Mobius backed off, and Kard gave a fishlike-growl.

I paused for a second. "Spark." I said. Kard nodded, and his baubles glowed, charging him with an electric static. Mobius seemed to be wary of this, and tried to avoid it.

"Mobius! Use Pound!" Aster yelled, seeming a little frustrated his last command wasn't followed.

The piplup seemed confused, whether to avoid the electricity or try to follow through, but ultimately decided to dive to the side as Kard floated past. Unfortunately, that moments hesitation costed 'him' valuable seconds, as Kard changed direction and slammed into the penguin. 'He' cried out in pain, and with tears in 'his' eyes, turned and swatted at Kard with 'his' feet.

Kard winced and retreated slightly, but then began charging an attack. Aster, evidently not seeing this, ordered the small Pokemon to do another peck while he was 'vulnerable'. The piplup evidently didn't recognize the attack the fish was charging and hence didn't know how to counter, and cried out as the Charge Beam crashed into 'him'.

Kard did a little victory dance as Mobius fell down, growling a little more. 'He' attempted to get up, but failed. Aster didn't help.

"Mobius, come on! You can get up!" He said encouragingly. Wataru seemed to smile. "Aster, I don't think it can fight anymore." he said politely. I was amused he said "it".

Aster grumbled a bit, then sighed. "Well, I guess I couldn't expect a Pokemon I just got a few hours ago to beat one you've had for most of your life."

I nodded slightly in affirmation.

Aster smirked, the gleam coming to his eye. "Good thing I don't have just one!"

I blinked. "You caught another Pokemon?" I said incredulously. Really, I was surprised he had a Pokemon by the time I got here, but apparently he had time not only to do that, but to also go out and catch another one.

Aster smirked. "Yep! Get a load of this! Go Nira!" He tossed a ball up, and it exploded, releasing a torrent of light downward. The shape formed was slightly peanut shaped, with a slightly smaller upper portion. Suddenly, sparks came out from the light, blinding me for a second; when I blinked away the spots of light, I beheld a small green Pokemon with what appeared to be a bud on its head. It seemed like a normal budew, however the petals under its head were pink instead of green.

Wataru let out a low whistle. "Shiny. Now you're one lucky kid…" He murmured thoughtfully.

Aster smirked. "Nira! Use Absorb!"

The small green creature squeaked and complied, drawing the energy from Kard. The fish whined in response, waving its nodes and releasing an arc of electricity that struck the bud. It didn't seem to do it any damage.

"Confuse Ray." I said. Kard blinked upwards (as most fish-Pokemon were prone to doing. It was one of the features that differentiated them from normal fish, who had no eyelids at all), then nodded, squeaking as it allowed a ball of bright colors escape from its two baubles. Aster growled.

"Don't let it hit you, Nira!"

The bud Pokemon responded by diving to the side, just avoiding it. Kard frowned, but followed it up by his baubles glowing light green as they released two brightly-colored lines of power that hit the bud Pokemon. It whined in response, but didn't seem that hurt.

"Stun Spore!" Aster yelled. The small Pokemon squeaked and complied, opening its bud and releasing a flurry of golden spores. Kard whined and tried to ward them off with Water Gun, but the spores didn't seem to mind the dampness and stuck to him. He twitched briefly when the spores hit, apparently paralyzed. I scowled.

Aster smirked. "Now's your chance! Use Mega Drain!" He ordered.

I blinked. "Kard, respond with Signal beam!"

The weak fish nodded, and apparently focused into itself. It squealed, however, when the bug Pokemon's bud opened, assimilating large amounts of power from it as green spheres descended into the bud Pokemon. Finally, it released a powerful Signal Beam, the colored lights blasting the poisonous bud backwards, though she got up moments later.

Kard, however, wasn't so fortunate, as he collapsed into unconsciousness, apparently fainted.

Aster did a little victory dance. "Ha, see? I knew it was a good idea to try and capture a Pokemon!" He childishly stuck his tongue out at me. "I win." He said.

I chuckled, and found Kard's pokeball. I quickly returned him. "Not quite, Aster."

The blond blinked. "Uh, what?" He said in confusion.

I took out the odd, solid-red pokeball I had been given. "I have one more." I said idly, throwing it out. "Go…uhm, Desiree." I said after a moment of thought Wataru nodded with a smirk.

The Aerodactyl formed in the air, yawning a bit, glancing around. Its gaze locked on the small bud below him.

I paused. "Dessy, use…" I hesitated.

Desiree didn't. It circled around the plant Pokemon once, before her jaws were covered in blue fire. Seconds later, she released a solid ball of what appeared to be golden energy, which struck the unfortunate plant with a large 'boom'.

There was a second as the dust settled.

Aster's mouth was agape as he recalled his very unconscious plant. His face was red. "Hey… that's not fair! Where'd you get that thing anyway?" He growled and grabbed my lapels, looking livid. Dessy roosted a little bit away, keeping a cautious eye on me and Aster, evidently already a little protective of her new 'master'.

There was a pause, before Aster's face turned into a happy one as he laughed. He let me go and patted me on the back of the neck. "Good battle, Yoh." He smirked mischievously. "And you say you're not a battler."

He managed to get a rise out of me. "I'm not!" I snapped. He simply chuckled and patted my hat. "But seriously." He said. "Where'd you get it? C'mon, you're my best friend!" He pleaded. "It's so cool! You gotta tell me!"

There was a chuckle as Wataru stood up. "He got it from me." He said simply. Aster's eyes stayed puppy dog-like as he looked up innocently at Wataru. The red-haired man simply laughed.

"Tell you what, Aster." He said, smiling. "I've got a rare Pokemon for you too." Aster smiled, and pumped a fist in the air in silent victory.

"But-" Wataru cautioned. "I want that Budew in exchange."

Aster paused. "Nira? But…I caught her…" He paused for a few seconds. Wataru smirked. "It's called a trade, Aster. Trust me, I'll take good care of her. I want her for my… erm…" He then blushed a little. "Well, as a gift for someone close to me. What do you say?"

I raised my eyebrow. He was perfectly willing to give it up for nothing in exchange before. Plus, I wondered who he 'wanted it for'. Wataru was a mysterious individual, and shinies like that Aster had somehow caught were extremely rare. I frowned a little. I wasn't liking this.

Aster seemed to pause, then he brightened up. "Okay!" he said, smiling. Wataru also smiled. "Good, good! I've been meaning to give this to a bright young trainer like you." He said with a chuckle. Aster smiled innocently. I shook my head wistlessly at Aster's childishness.

A ball switched hands, and moments later, Aster was left holding a solid red ball like Desiree had come in.

"Well." The scientist from before said with a warm smile, walking up to me. I blinked in confusion for a second; I had forgotten he was here for a minute. I turned to him and gave him a polite nod, but kept my eyes on Wataru. I wasn't letting him run off until we had discovered what kind of 'rar'" Pokemon he had traded to Aster.

"That was surely an interesting battle. Now, you young man, do you mean to say you came here for a Pokemon also?" He said with a straight face.

I paused, my stomach sinking. Would he refuse, after seeing I already had two? I couldn't tell from his face if he was angry or impressed. Could've been both for all I knew.

"Yeah… how'd you know?" I said, trying a lighthearted grin. That seemed to be the right thing. The old man beamed. "Good… because I have the perfect one for you."

Out of his pocket, he pulled a small, regular pokeball. He smiled. "It's a Chimchar."

I nodded. That was good, I guessed. Chimchar were nice, though I didn't prefer them over the other two starters. I received the ball and put it on the lining on the inside of my jacket, where I had kept Kard, and now Desiree's, pokeballs.

"Here's your Pokedex…" He said after a moment, handing me a small object with a black button on it, evidently used to open it. I nodded; I heard of these before. They were portable encyclopedias on every known Pokemon and helpful trainer item. Every trainer worth his salt had one, and new trainers got a free one with their Pokemon. Not only that, but they allowed acess to the PC network and internet, which was invaluable for any trainer.

"Thank you." I said respectfully. The man paused, and stared at my face for a few minutes. "Your face looks… familiar…" He said, muttering. "Have I met you before? Or maybe a relative? What's your last name?"

"My last name?" I heard what he said with a sinking feeling. I knew exactly what he was talking about, and remembered exactly who he was now. "It's… Gavin. I'm Yoh Gavin." I said finally. Gavin seemed like a common enough name.

The professor nodded after a moment or two's consideration. "Well, then, I'm sure I'll remember eventually."

He turned to Aster, sternly. "Now, Aster, I'd like to reiterate for you to calm down a little. Your passion is admirable, but you seem to be confusing your Pokemon. Try to gain some perspective."

Aster sighed, but combed a hand through his hair with a grin. "Alright, Professor Rowan. I'll try that."

He then turned to Wataru. "Now then, as for you…" He said in that equally-stern voice. "I wish you luck, but also, I warn you to learn your own limitations. You can't do everything all at once." His voice lowered a little. "And I'd be very… displeased… if you let anything happen to yourself, or… anyone you or I happen to care for." He said, letting the words hang. I felt distinctly uncomfortable. Aster didn't have that problem.

Wataru smiled. "Will do, Proff. Sorry to take up some of your time, but I've gotta run. Yoh, Aster, see you two around."

"Wait." I said, grabbing him by the shoulder. I blinked when I felt the thick muscle there; his body seemed lean, but he was obviously incredibly fit. I wondered once more exactly what his job was.

"We still haven't seen what that Pokemon you traded to Aster was. How do you aren't ripping us off?"

Wataru blinked, then chuckled. "True, very true. Alright then, one way to fix that; Aster, if you please." He said, waving a hand in Aster's general direction.

Aster nodded, and took the ball; He enlarged it, and opened it in his palm. The light descended in front of him.

I looked closer.

The creature formed was small, but oddly shaped. It had skin a light shade of emerald, with a sort of horn on its head and very odd tail that seemed to resemble some sort of upturned bowl, or flower. Its eyes looked cunning, and had triangle markings of black on either side. Of course, the most noticeable aspect was its chest, which seemed to be containing a massive, flawless ruby.

The larvitar scowled and stepped on Aster's foot, lower claws extended.


End file.
